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Cricketers pay homage to SA cricket legend Morne Morkel

Apr 04 2018 by Dustin Murphy

In what could be a watershed series, they have also caused a change in the way Australia will play their cricket in the future following the ball-tampering furore for which this series will long be remembered.

Also at Newlands‚ Australia's plot to tamper with the ball by roughening it with sandpaper was exposed and Steve Smith‚ Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned by Cricket Australia and sent home in disgrace.

Morne Morkel, playing in his final Test, had been given a guard of honour by his teammates and support staff when he walked on to the field at the start of the day.

Ottis Gibson - "One thing that I have concentrated on all the time is keeping the support staff focused on the cricket and not what's been going on off the field. I'm really going to miss the banter in the change-room, but I'm also excited for the new guy that's going to come into the team and enjoy this journey".

And Australia were humbled by the Proteas in the aftermath, losing the third and fourth Tests by huge margins to leave Paine - stepping up in Smith's absence - to reflect on a dismal tour. Nathan Lyon drove Morkel away through cover and turned for a risky second run; Aiden Markram's throw from the outfield was good enough for Quinton de Kock to whip the bails off and have Lyon run out for 9. We spend a lot of time training our culture and if it ever falls out of line then we quickly nip that in the bud, I'm very strong on that.

Paine stressed that it was not a one-off as he and whoever is the new coach try and take the team in a different direction. The defeat gave South Africa a 3-1 series victory, their first at home against Australia since 1969/70.

That contest was ironically South Africa's most-recent home Test series win over Australia. "As a whole in the series‚ this was our most complete performance‚" Du Plessis said after the final match at the Wanderers ended with a 492-run victory on Tuesday. Cummins was again Australia's best bowler, taking four for 58. Du Plessis said he had never known his team to be as motivated as they were after a bad-tempered first Test in Durban. "You can't doubt our effort". "When you are slightly off in Test cricket against a world-class opposition, you're going to be found wanting".

Bancroft led the Australian's in scoring during the series while Smith and Warner have always been the backbone of Australian teams.

For years, Australia has been used to sending teams to historic defeats, not suffering them.

No Australian batsman scored a century this series. The South African pacers averaged 18.59 runs per wicket, while Australia's pacers conceded 32.13 runs per wicket. Whatever happened to us, it happened, but I don't think we can hide behind the fact that, purely on skill, they completely outplayed us.